Shifting register for a sorting system



2 1958 G. w. BROWN SHIFTING REGISTER Fox A somme SYSTEM Filed Feb. 21, 1955 5 N V mw JM mm m f ma 4, M n fw n 2,862,617 Ice Patented Dec. 2. .195B

, SHIFTIG REGISTER FOR A SORTING SYSTEM George W. Brown, Pacific Palisades, Calif., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Telemeter Magnetics, Inc., Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of New York Application February 21, 1955, Serial No. 489,365 8 Claims. (Cl. 209-72) This invention relates to a shifting register employing relays and, more particularly, to an improved register for use with automatic sorting systems.

A very common method of sorting items in accordance with an identifying characteristic thereof is to feed these items in series past a number of collection stations, each of which collects those of the items having identifications which are assigned for collection by a particular station. These items may range from fruit, which is to be sorted into the various colors or sizes, or perforated business machine cards, which are to be sorted into groups in accordance with information perforated therein, or other items, such as checks bearing tabs having perforations on said tabs. An arrangement whereby the latter may be sorted is the basis of an application for patent tiled by George W. Brown and Louis N. Ridenour on `November 19, 1952, for a Computing System, Serial Number 321,452.

In the apparatus employed for serially examining and sorting these items, there are two possible approaches. Either sensing apparatus may be positioned at each sorting station to control the collection operation of that sorting station, or sensing apparatus may be positioned in front of the rst of a series of sorting stations and some form of register or memory may be employed which stores the identification being sensed, and, when the item whose identification has been stored reaches the proper sorting station, the register operates to actuate the sorting station to collect the item. The former system for sorting involves more apparatus than the latter, and, therefore, is not in as much favor. In using the latter system, however, a register was not only required to store the identitications of the various items being scanned but was also required to keep track of those items in their passage by the several sorting stations until they reached the station at which they were to be collected.

Various devices are used for keeping track of the position of an item continuously while it is passing by each one of the sorting stations. These are fairly complex, and, where, for example, conveyor belts are used, require accurate timing mechanism for both regulating the speed of the conveyor and spacing the positions of the item being fed to the conveyor.

An object of the present invention is to eliminate the requirement in a sorting system for indicating at all times the position of an item on a conveyor while being conveyed past sorting stations to apparatus which designates the sorting station to capture said item.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved register for a sorting system which requires information as to the position of an item to be sorted only at the time such item is to pass a sorting station.

Still another feature of the present invention is to provide a novel and improved shifting register employing relays.

Yet another feature of the present invention is to provide a more economical arrangement for sorting.

These and other features of the invention are achieved to connect the relays in a series sequence.

2 by providing a sorting system wherein there is a shifting register employing relays, which is an embodiment of the invention. the system, an arrangement is provided wherein a single reader scans the items to be sorted one at a time beforey they pass by a plurality of sorting stations which are arranged in a sequence. The shifting register has a plurality of register channels. Each channel is associated with a dilerent one of the sorting stations. Each channel includes a number of relays, which is determined by the position of the associated sorting station in the sequence. When an item passes under the reader, its identification is read and a first relay in a register channel is operated. This register channel is the one which is associated with the sorting station which is to collect the item which has just been identified. Means are provided in each channel In front of each sorting station is a feeler switch. As an item passes by each feeler switch, it causes a sequential transferv of operation of the relays in a channel wherein the first relay was operated upon sensing the identification of that item. When the/last relay of a channel is operated, the associated sorting station is actuated to collect the item. The novel features that are considered characteristic of this invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, both as to its organization and method of operation, as well as additional objects and advantages thereof, will best be understood from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a block diagram of a sorting arrangement` which utilizes an embodiment of the present invention; and

Figure 2 is a circuit diagram of an embodiment of the invention.

In the operation of this invention, for the purposes of simplification, the items to be sorted will be described as the checks carrying tabs, which are described and claimed in the application referred to above by Drs. Brown and Ridenour. A typical sorter or sorting station for these items is described and claimed in an application for a Sorting and Stacking Apparatus by George James Brown and George W. Brown, tiled September 20, 1954, Serial Number 457,171. It will be appreciated, however, that the invention herein has broader application than the specilcally described arrangement with which it is employed. Accordingly, although the description is directed to checks carrying tabs, and sorting and stacking drums,

these are by way of explanation and are not to be coustrued as a limitation upon the invention.

The purpose in applying a tab to a check and perforat ing the tab in accordance with a code is to enable the automatic sorting of checks. These checks must be returned to the banks upon which they were drawn, so that the proper accounting operations may occur. It will be appreciated that large numbers of checks are accumulated at a bank during the course of a business day which must be sorted out for the eventual purpose of being returned to the banks upon which they were drawn. Each bank has assigned an identifying number, and this is the number which is perforated in the tab afiixed to the check.

Figure l shows an automatic sorting arrangement. The checks are fed singly to a transporting mechanism, such as pairs of rollers (not shown) or a conveyor belt 10. As a check 11 passes under a photocell reader 12, the information contained in the tab perforations, whereby a check` is identified, is read. This identification is entered into a shifting register 14 and it is stored there. As the check is carried forward, before each sorting station, it passes a feeler switch 16. The function of the feeler switch will become more clear with the further explanation of the invention. However, for the purpose of this explanation By way of illustration of the operation of at this point, it is sufticient to know that the feeler switch indicates that an item is about to enter the collecting area of a sorting station 18. Three sorting stations 18, 18', 18" are shown, by way of example. Any desired number may be employed. However, a feeler switch is associated with each sorting station. A sorting station may comprise a sorting and stacking drum of the type described in the application by Messrs. George James Brown and George W. Brown, as indicated above. In brief, this sorting station consists of a hub with radiating fins. The fins form pockets and a check passes through one of these pockets if it is not to be captured. If it is to be captured, a pocket is closed at the far end, so that the check is carried into it but cannot be passed therethrough. The drum is then rotated to place a succeeding pocket in position for the capture or passage of the next check. Blocking of a. pocket for capture is performed by an electromechanically actuated shutter. Accordingly, if an item 11 is to be captured, the shifting register has been informed by the feeler switch 16 that this item is about to enter the capture area of the sorting station 18. The shifting register then informs the sorting station whether or not it is to perform the capture operation.

As previously indicated, in the prior art it was necessary to know at all times the position of the item relative to the sorting station. This is obviated with the present invention. Actually, it is important to know the position of an item only when it is just prior to the area of capture of a sorting station, so that the decision whether or not to capture can be made. The latter mode of operation is the one employed in the present invention.

Referring now to Figure 2, a shifting register employing relays is shown schematically which comprises the embodiment of the present invention. The only requirement for the positioning of the items to be sorted when using the system described herein is that the spacing of these items in the conveying system be greater than the spacing between rsorting stations. This requirement is made in order that any relay which is operated will be cleared before any other relay activated by that same feeler switch can be activated. This insures that an oncoming check is uniquely identified by the operation of a single relay amongst all those which can be operated by the feeler switch to be activated by that check. The required spacing of the checks can be simply maintained by controlling the intervals between checks being fed into the system taking into consideration the speed of the conveyor for the checks.

The invention requires a separate channel for each sorting station. Each channel is associated with a different one of the sorting stations. The number of relays employed in a channel is determined by the position of the sorting station in the sequence in the sorting system. In other words, the channel associated with the first sorting station 18 may employ two relays. The channel associated with the sorting station 18 may employ three relays. The third channel may employ four relays.

The relays in each channel are operated in a series sequence. When an item is being read by the photocell reader 12, the identification immediately establishes which sorting station is to capture that item. This identification information is employed to operate the rst relay in a channel which is associated with that sorting station. For example, if the check-carrying tab is to be captured by the third sorting station 18", then relay RSA is operated.

The arrangement is typical of that of all the other channels except, obviously, for the number of relays employed. An understanding of the third channel arrangement, it is believed, will readily enable an understanding of the operation of the entire invention. Further, an understanding o f the interconnections and operation of the third channel will readily enable an understanding of how this invention may be extended to control a sorting operation of any desired size.

Each relay employed has a relay coil Z0, a irst pair of contacts 22, and a second pair of contacts 24. These contacts are open when the relay is not operated. Across each relay coil a condenser 26 is connected. Thisv coudenser serves the function of making the opening of the relay contacts slower than the closing. If desired, relays having a fast close-slow open operation may be used instead and the condensers may be eliminated. The first set of relay contacts is connected between a first terminal 30 of a feeler switch 16 and one side of the relay coil 20. The second contacts 24 are connected V feeler switches 16, 16', 16", in the third channel, all of which have their movable arm connected to one terminal of the potential source, and, in the nonoperated condition, this movable arm is connected to the trst terminal 30. The first feeler switch 16 is common to all channels. By this is meant that the feeler switch 16 has ganged movable contacts, one set of which is in each of the channels. Feeler switch 16 is common to the second and third channels. By this is meant that the feeler switch 16 has ganged movable contacts, one set of which is in each of the second and third channels. Feeler switch 16" is only used in the third channel. Accordingly, it will be observed that the tirst feelerv switch is common to all channels, the second feeler switch is common to all but the first channel, the third feeler switch is common to all but the irst and second channel. This principle of construction is employed if more than three channels are used; for example, if there were 10 channels, the rst feeler switch would be common to all 10, the second to all but the first, and the last feeler switch would only be employed in the tenth channel. The interconnections of the succeeding relays in the third channel with the feeler switches are identical to the one described.

Now considering the operation of the system, let it be assumed that a check carrying a tab is passing under the photocell reader 12. The identication read by the reader indicates that the check is to be captured by the third sorting station. The reader, in response to such identification, operates the lirst relay RSA in the third channel. This causes the irst and second pairs of contacts 22 and 24 to be closed. Relay RSA is held operated because the tirst pair of contacts through the feeler switch supplies holding current to the relay. Upon the first item passing under the first feeler switch 16, the movable arm 38 is moved from terminal 30 to terminal 32. Since the condenser 26 retards the opening of the contacts of relay RSA, operating potential will be applied to relay RSB through the feeler switch and contact 24, whereupon it, in turn, is operated and closes its first and second pairs of contacts. Upon discharge of the condenser 26, relay RSA is rendered inoperative. However, relay R3B is held operated through its iirst pair of contacts 22b and feeler switch 16'. Feeler switch 16 immediately returns to its initial position as soon as the check-carrying tab has passed thereunder. The initial operation of the movable arm of feeler switch 16 also transfers operating potential to the relays RIB and RZB of the preceding channels. However, since relays RIA and RZA have not been operated, there is no elfect as a result of this operation.

As soon as relay R38 has been operated, the register may be employed to store additional information from the photocell reader in any of the channels without los- Y ing the information already there or committing any errors. As the item passes under the second feeler switch 16', the feeler switch is operated to apply operating potential to relay RSC. Thus, the position of the item is identified just prior to its entering the capture area of the second sorting station. vThe tem then is moved under the third feeler switch 16". This, in the manner previously described, operates relay RSD. The contact 22D of relay R3D is closed, which causes operation of sorting station operatingapparatus 40. This may include any of the required electromechanical apparatus which is required to be operated to capture a checkcarrying tab. A typical arrangement of such apparatus may be found described in the previously mentioned application to Messrs. Brown and Brown.

Any succeeding items passing under the feeler switches will cause successive operation of relays in the channels wherein the first relay was operated in response to the identification on said item, even though the feeler switch. operation transfers potential between relays in all of the channels. A sequential transfer of the operation of the relays may occur in all the channels, but not simultaneously. This is insured by keeping the items being sorted a greater distance apart than the distance between two sorting stations. The common operation of the feeler switches for all the channels may be secured either by using a plurality of ganged switches or by using a multi-contact relay which is actuated by a simple feeler switch, which, in this instance, may consist of a microswitch. Such relay may then be one which has a plurality of normally closed contacts, corresponding to first terminals of the feeler switches, and a plurality of normally open contacts, corresponding to second terminals of the feeler switches.

Accordingly, there has been shown and described herein a novel andv useful relay-type shifting register which enables sorting using a single memory without keeping track at all times of the position of each item being sorted. It provides an economical and novel form of memory for the sorting system, which may be expanded to handle any number of sorting stations desired.

I claim: l

l. In a sorting system of the type wherein items to be sorted are passed serially under a reader and then are passed in sequence by a number of sorting stations at each of which there are collected those items having an identification assigned to be collected by that station, a register for said system comprising a different register channel associated with each of said sorting stations, means responsive to an identification of an item being read by said reader to store an indication of the presence of said item in a channel associated with the sorting station to collect said item, means at each sorting station to signal all said channels the approach of an item to said sorting station, means in said channels to advance a stored indication responsive to a signal from said last named means, and means at a sorting station to collect an item responsive to an indication from the associated channel that the item is one for which an indication was stored and advanced in said channel.

2. In a sorting system of the type wherein items to be sorted are passed serially under an identification reader and then are passed in sequence by a number of sorting stations at each of which there are collected those items having an identification which is assigned for collection by that station, a register for said system comprising a different register channel associated with each of said sorting stations, each of said register channels including a plurality of relays, and means to interconnect said relays for operation in a serial sequence; means responsive to an identification of an item being read by said reader to operate a first relay in a channel associated with the sorting station which is to collect the items which are so identified, means responsive to the approach of an item to a sorting station to advance the operation of the relays in serial sequence in each channel wherein the rst relay has been operated, and means responsive to the actuation of the last relay in a channel to actuate an associated sorting station to collect the item responsive to whose approach to said station said last relay wasv actuated.

3. In a sorting system of the type wherein items to be sorted are passed serially under a reader and then are passed in sequence by a number of sorting stations at each of: which there are collected those items having an identification which is assigned for collection by that station, a register for said system comprising a different register channel associated with each of said sorting stations, each of said register channels including a plurality of relays, means responsive to an identification of an item being read by said reader to operate a first relay in a channel associated with the sorting station which is tocollect the items which are so identified, a different feeler switch positioned in front of each sorting station, means to operate in series the relays in a channel wherein the first relay was operated responsive to the successive sensing of the identified item by said different feeler switches, and means responsive to the actuation of a last relay in i a channel to actuate the associated sorting station to collect the identified item.

4. In a sorting system of the type wherein items to be I sorted are passed serially under an identification reader, and then are passed in sequence by a number of sorting stations at each of which there are collected those items having an identification which is assigned for collection by that station, a register for said system comprising a different register channel associated with each of said sorting stations, each of said register channels including a plurality of relays, each said relay having a relay coil and a first and second pair of contacts which are open when said relay is not operated, means connecting all of the relays of each channel to operate in a sequence including means connecting one end of all said plurality of relay coils together, means to connect o-ne of said first pair of contacts to the other side of its relay coil, means to connect one of said second pair of contacts to the other side of a succeeding relay coil, a source of relay operating potential having two output terminals, means connecting all said interconnected one ends of said relay coils to one of said two output terminals, a means asso ciated with each sorting station to connect the other of the first pair of contacts of a relay to the other of said two output terminals when unoperated and to connect the other of said second pair of contacts of said relay to the other of said two output terminals and to disconnect said first pair of contacts of said relay from said other of said two output terminals when operated, means at each sorting station to operate said last named associated means when an item passes thereby, means responsive to an identification of an item being read by said reader to operate a first relay in a channel associated with a sorting station to collect the items which are so identified, and means responsive to the actuation of the last relay in a channel to actuate an associated sorting station to collect thc item responsive to whose approach to sai-d station said last relay was actuated.

5, In a sorting system ofthe type wherein items to be sorted are passed serially under an identification reader and then are passed in sequence by a number of sorting stations at each of which there are collected those items having an identification which is assigned for collection by that station, a register for said system comprising a different register channel associated with each of said sorting stations, each of said register channels including a plurality of relays, each said relay having a relay coil and a first and second pair of contacts which are open when sai-d relay is not operated, means connecting all y of the relays of each channel to operate n a sequence including means connecting one end of all said plurality of relay coils together, means to connect one of said first pair of contacts to the other side of its relay coil,

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means to connect one of said second pair of contacts to the other side of a succeeding rclay coil, a source of relay operating potential having a first and second output terminal, means connecting said one end of all said relay coils to said first output terminal, a feeler switch associated with each sorting station, said feeler switch being positioned to sense an item prior to its entering the area of collection operation of the associated sorting station, each feeler switch including a movable arm connected to said second output terminal, a first switch terminal and a second switch terminal, said movable arm being moved from said first to said second switch terminal when sensing an item, means connecting the other of said first pair of contacts of a relay to a first switch terminal of a different one of said feeler switches, means connecting the other of said second pair of contacts of each said relay to said second switch terminal of the feeler switch to which the first contact is connected, means responsive to an identification of an item being read by said reader to operate a first relay in a channel associated with a sorting station to collect the items which are so identified, and means responsive to the actuation of the last relay in a channel to actuate an associated sorting station to collect the item responsive to whose approach to said station said last relay was actuated.

6. ln a sorting system as recited in claim wherein there are included a plurality of condensers and means to couple each of said condensers across a different one of said relay coils.

7. A relay type shifting register having a plurality of register channels, each register channel including a p1urality of relays in a sequence each of which has a relay coil .and a first and a second pair of contacts which are open when said relay is not operated; a plurality of condensers, each of which is `connected across a different one of said relay coils, a pair of power terminals for applying operating potentials to said relays, means coupling one end of all of said relay coils to one of said power terminals, and means to operate said relays in sequence including a plurality of feeler switches each of said feeler switches having a first and a second terminal and a common arm in contact with said first terminal when said switch is not operated, means to connect all said common arms to the other of said power terminals, means connecting each first pair of contacts between the other end of the coil of the relay with which it is associ ated and the first terminal of a different one of said switches, means connecting the second pair of contacts of each relay betwen the second terminal of a switch having its first terminal connected to said relay and the other side vof the yrelay coil of a succeeding relay in said sequence, means to operate a first one of said relays, and means to successively operate said switches whereby said relays are operated in said sequence.

8. A relay type shifting register having a register channel, said channel including a plurality of relays, each relay having a relay coil, and two pairs of contacts which are open when said relay is not operated, a separate condenser for each relay, each condenser being connected across each relay coil, a pair of power terminals for applying operating potential to said relays, means coupling one end of all of said relay coils to one of said power terminals, a plurality of single pole double throw switches, each including a first and second terminal and a movable contact member in contact with said first terminal when said switch is not operated, means connecting all said movable contact members with the other of said power tcrimnals, means connecting one of the pairs of contacts of each relay between the other end of said relay coil and a first terminal of a different one of said switches, means connecting the other of the pairs of contacts of each relay between a second terminal of the one of said switches connected to said relays one pair oi contacts and said other end of the relay coil of a succeeding relay, means to operate a first one of said plurality of relays, means to successively operate said plu-v rality of switches to successively operate said relays, and means to indicate operation of the last of said plurality of relays.

References Cited in the tileof this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,302,535 Durbin Nov. 17, 1942 2,389,275 Rayner Nov. 20, 1945 2,675,916 Caston et al Apr. 20, 1954 

